16 months!

Well, our Miss Macie is 16 months old (on the 7th) and it's time to update about how she's growing!
Macie, at 16 months you:

Love Brushing your teeth! (and momma loves that Dadda does this with you most nights after you drink your milk)

Say Momma, Dadda, touch, moon, and a whole bunch of other words.  Dee Dee Dow is an expression you use all.the.time.  You're daddy and I don't know what it means, but we think it's awful cute.

You finally have enough hair (and momma has enough skills) for pigtails.  You don't always leave them in, but they are super cute!  You haven't had a haircut, but I'm contemplating having it cut just to even some parts out.  We'll have to see about that.

Love reading Goodnight moon (at all times of the day).  You love to say "hush" with the old lady who was whispering hush. 

You have watched a baby genious DVD that has songs on it, and you will be in the middle of the grocery store or ta.rget and start doing the tune of 'the whe.els on the bus'.  I really hope you love music as much as your momma.  And especially that you love Praising Jesus as much as your parents.

Naps are hard.  You take one good nap, and usually get really, really cranky around 5 pm.  Just late enough that we don't want you to take a nap, but just early enough that 3 hours to bedtime is really rough.  Last night you gave daddy a run for his money while momma was at a church meeting.  We're hoping in the next few months (weeks, days maybe!) to get the one nap to 3 hours or so, so that you'll just be content with one nap.  It's not like one day they need two naps and the next day it's one.  It's been about 3 months of transition so far.  Boo.

Also, discipline is getting more complicated.  We haven't spanked you, but you don't seem to mind the 'clap. growl' (dr. karp) or timeout.  You're just pretty go with the flow when you are in trouble.  Sounds like trouble for mama!

You got sick almost a month and a half ago.  It was scary, you actually had a fever that got up to 105!  The after hours care was less concerned with your temperature because you were still behaving okay.  But geez, don't scare us like that again!  It turned out to just be something viral that only lasted about 48 hours (and your temp wasn't that high the whole time), but it was awful.  No more sickness!

You just cut your 15th tooth.  Just missing one incisor and your back four molars.  Pretty good I'd say.

You are a GOOD eater.  You still eat veggies without complaint.  The only trick is to give you the food in order.  Veggies first, main course, then fruit.  You would eat fruit all the live long day if we let you.  Not that it's bad, just that we want you to get all the nourishment you need!

You help daddy make breakfast. 

Generally Macie, you are one of the sweetest kids I've ever met.  You aren't perfect, but you sure are fun.  If your little sibling is as fun as you, we're going to have a good time in the future!

Back to Work

Today marks a week and a half that I've been back at work.  I think I've mentioned that this year I get to be 'part' time.  This is fantastic.  As a high school teacher, it's not always easy to get a partial assignment.  What this means is, I work every day of the week, but I'm technically done at 11:10.  yup.  11:10!  It's amazing!  It's hard though.  The tardy bell rings for my first class (zero period) at 7:00.  I have 39 kids in my zero period economics class.  If you think I'm crazy for being up that early, just imagine them!  At least I'm getting paid!
It's been going well, but it's made for a busy mama.  When I get home (between 12 and 1 depending on how much preparing I have to do for the next day) I find that Macie is usually just waking up.  LOVE it!  The only down side...I'M SO TIRED!   I'm so excited to have another baby, but it's made the back to work transistion a little tougher than before.  So the afternoons we have to be creative, also, it's been so hot that almost everyone is cranky. 
What do you all do when it's hot in the afternoon and there's no nap in sight?  I'd love some input!

OB appt

Wednesday was our first appointment with my regular OB.  With my first pregnancy I took the easy route.  I figured one OB was as good as another.  Anybody laughing yet?  Exactly.  He was not the Dr. for me.  We ended up switching to another Dr around 5 months.  And while the experience was fine, this time I've sought out a better doctor.  The one that everyone gets so excited when they hear her name.  And I must say, I was not disappointed.  She was worth the wait (yes, I waited about 20 minutes while naked with the gown open in the front).  Super nice, lots of energy, very relate-able. 
Thank you!
So the appointment Wednesday was just her.  She said things looked good, but my ultrasound wasn't scheduled until Friday (yesterday).  So yesterday I got to see this:

Yup.  There's a baby in there!

So there you have it!  We measured a week ahead of where we thought we were.  So as of today I am 10 weeks 4 days.  My due date was changed to March 21st.  I told the US tech that made sense since my HCG levels were so high.

Last night we told my mother in law (who only cried twice) and today we'll share with my brother and sister in law.  It's hard figuring out the order in which to tell people.  I haven't told any of my friends (unless hairstylist counts), and I don't want my family to put anything on line (this is when I hate facebook), so I think this will be the week where we tell everyone. 

We know a lot can still happen, but I also know that this is God's baby, and if I get to take care of it for 10 weeks or 70 years, it's still God's.  It's hard to register that bad things can happen, but I also feel like I wasted a lot of my first pregnancy being worried, and I want to give that up this time.  (any solutions to worrying?  ha).

But there is our update.  Now we're just trying to stay cool.  It's supposed to be about 104 today.  But I know some of you are having a hurricane head your way, so I've completely got the temperature in perspective.  AND, might I add, that some fellow Southern Californians were so mean about the Earthquake in DC - making fun.  BUT, can I just say that we get half an inch of rain and it becomes 'Storm watch, 2011' on the news.  (I'm not making that up).  If we had a hurricane or tropical storm heading toward up, you would think Jesus would be coming with it.  So I'm hoping everyone stays safe and dry no matter where you are.

Happy Saturday



Vacation and...

A heartbeat!
Sorry it has taken so long to post, I'm just getting used ot our good news!  We had a heartbeat at 6w3d and so far so good.  It's still a long haul, and I am being cautios, but each day that goes by without spotting is a huge hurtle as far as I'm concerend.  I'ts not the best picture, but it's what the doc gave us, it's the measure of the baby.  A grain of rice has never wreaked so much havoc on a human body (actually, it happens all the time), but again we are pleased and shocked and hoping this is not just a dream.

And then one of the reasons I"m not posting much these days is that we went to Lake Tahoe for a week in Nor Cal.  It was beautiful as always and lots of fun.  We were with friends and family and we chose not to tell them about our news, so I was a little more quiet than usual (seeing as how I was thinking about the baby every other thought but then couldn't say anything).  So this is another reason why this blog is so helpful, it's a place to share and be happy.  We're not waiting for a particular reason to tell everyone, I just have this image of being already in my second trimester before we share our news, and then the wait for everyone won't be as long.  ALTHOUGH, we already told my mom (she babysat while we went to the ultrasound), and then the nanny house-sat for us while we were on vacation and I got home and realized I left the positive pregnancy test on the counter in the bathroom.  Oops.  She didn't mention it, but I'm pretty sure she knows.  Ha.  The best laid plans.

Football coaching starts for DH tomorrow, and then the following week is teacher meetings.  I'm not dreading the school year, but I'm planning to enjoy these next few weeks before going back to work.

How are you spending the end of summer?

Getting Closer

This Friday is our ultrasound.  I'm mostly confident, but every now and then I don't feel much of anything and my mind goes berzerk.  But then my boobs will ache and I'll thank God.  Whatever happens, I know this is in God's will, but it's still so weird.  I am having the hardest time getting over a 'planned, yet still unplanned' pregancy.  We were trying.  But...it happened!  And, no matter what the outcome, one reason I'm shocked is that for the 3 full years we tried before having Macie I never had a positive preganncy test.  Not one.  Just stark white and blank. 
And in March we had a chemical pregnancy (but still a positive test), and now this.  I'm actually 6W1D.  THat floors me.  God is so amazing, and has done such powerful things, but something as 'mundane' as creating a baby just blows my mind.  I don't know why our journey included all those years of no baby, I just know that God has given me the best family I could have dreamed of and it was all in His time and He is never wrong.  So we are praising God for this pregnancy, and working really hard to keep it a secret for a while.  For a myriad of reasons, but the biggest, is that our last pregancy was so long.  We told everyone at 7 weeks.  If we can wait until 12 or 14+ weeks, then there will be a little less waiting around.  (in theory).
I'll check in when I know more.  I'm doing another blood draw tomorrow in anticipation of Friday's ultrasound.

Quick update

I know this is way late, but I got Friday's beta results on monday, and it was good.  7000.  That's a tremendous growth.
It's now Thursday and we have an ultrasound scheduled for next Friday.  I'm excited, but at moments I don't feel quite as pregnant, and I just wonder how everythings going.  I'm looking forward to all kinds of nausea and sickness so I have more confidence.  Ultimately though, I know my confidence is in Christ and that is enough.
But I still struggle with worry.  So...praise Jesus for each day this baby is growing and developing.  I'll post more when I know more.  Happy weekend everyone!  (early)

keeping you updated

So this morning I got a hold of the RE and the nurse had me do some blood work.  They checked my Beta and Progesterone.
Drum Roll Please...
Beta: 1500
Progesterone:  24.6

She broke it down for me.  My LMP was June 21st (maybe the 20th, depending on how you look at it, I started the afternoon of the 20th, but not full flow until the 21st). 
Anyway, The nurse said this afternoon that they like to see the numbers over 100 for this time.  And I'm at 1500.  So I'm not thinking twins, I'm thinking I ovulated early.  And if it were twins, I would have to publicly apologize to J.lo. and Mark An.thony*.  But seriously?  That's a high beta.
Also, she said the if someone is not on a progesterone supplement they want to see the level around 14-15, and if they are, they want it to be around 25.  So without a supplement I'm super high.

I'm hoping this is a sticky baby for sure.  Thank you for all your nice comments.  I feel like there have been so many 'second' baby announcements lately and I know up until last night I was worried that wouldn't ever happen for us.  So I'm still praying and thinking for this baby and for all of you ladies.
I also know that there is a LONG journey between now and whenever the due date would be.
All I know is that right now I want to go put my fee up on the couch and watch the lastest Next Foo.d Network Star with my husband. 
My next blood draw will be this saturday, and then an ultra sound the first week in August.  Thank you for being so encouraging.  It was hard not to tell everyone today what I was thinking about, but it's helpful to share this with you all sweet ladies.

On to the tv!

*I was really mean when JLo announced that they had a hard time conceiveing and then 'suddenly' became pregnant with twins.  I think the words 'liar' and 'false' were used.  It's difficult to imagine there was no reproductive help for them to concieve.  Althought ultimately, who cares, right?